Choosing Music For Your Documentary (Advice From A Composer)

In this article, you will learn several options for sourcing music along with their "pros and cons" - these options range from free to varying levels of pay.

In the interest of transparency, you should know that I myself am a composer. Regardless of whether or not I influence your future decisions, perhaps these reflections will give you valuable insight into what goes into music scoring, and help you choose a method by which to find music that best fits your needs.

Music Libraries

Music Libraries are a dime a dozen- but then
again so are composers.

You could easily spend days sifting through search
engine results for one music library that has the type of music you’re looking
for, and then even more time sifting through that library to find a track that
works with your scene.

Within this category, we have free stock music
libraries, and paid music libraries.

If you didn’t
budget for music in your film, free stock music libraries are for you.

Free
stock music libraries might require acknowledgement for a track’s use. The
tracks you’ll find here are generally inferior quality. This means poor audio,
and compositionally lacking, i.e., non-memorable melodies, or ripped off ideas,
etc. These tracks are widely used in hobbyist videos on YouTube and elsewhere,
so they aren’t unique, per se.

You’ll need to ask yourself if you mind using a
highly-trafficked piece that might even have associations to other films.

Generally speaking, you get what you pay for.

These libraries are free, sure,
but do they add value to your work?

Paid music libraries are generally
royalty-free, referring to the right to use intellectual property without the
need to pay royalties/license fees for each use, per each copy or volume sold
or some time period of use or sales.

There are many high-quality libraries with
vast collections of music. They can also be very inexpensive with tracks coming
in baseline around $20.

These are both very good things for you.

However, this
is where things start to turn a little.

Most libraries have one or a few genres
in which they specialize or require of their composers. This is good if you
know exactly what you’re looking for, but can be limiting if you don’t.

And
let’s be honest- most of the time, directors think they know what they want,
but when you talk with composers, your tune often changes!

Additionally, music
purchased from libraries (and this applies to the free stock libraries as well)
is not custom-tailored to your media.

Some music libraries may offer different
loops or varying duration versions of the cue (30, 60, 90 seconds) so you can
drag and drop the track wherever you want, but it won’t be a precise fit.

Finally, and similarly to the free stock libraries, these paid cues can be used
in other projects, so if you’re looking for something unique it’s definitely
harder to find.

Writing Your Own Music

If you’re a real stickler for pure perfection and
alignment to your creative vision, and have the musical chops/equipment
available to you, this is a solid option.

I know personally quite a few
directors/producers who also compose most if not all of the original music for
their films.

Cutting out all middlemen, as it were, directly implies perfect
music matches with custom-tailored cues fit to the media.

I have the greatest
respect for these individuals and their talents are truly inspiring.

I have
noticed, however, that many of these swiss-army knife creatives spread
themselves and their talents thinly over their projects. One person can only do
so much with limited time and resources, so a multi-faceted approach such as
this might bring down the overall quality of a project.

Additionally, it may be
difficult to remove oneself from the film. This means you may already have
solid ideas in your mind of what you want musically, and where cues should go.
The problem is that directors and producers often find themselves stuck on a
certain sound or cue for a scene that might not work as well as a different
approach would.

In the world of music production, artists rarely mix and master their own songs or pieces. Their ears are
“fatigued” from listening to the same track repeatedly and it’s difficult to
hear the piece in a different light.

Similarly, it is difficult, once you have
dedicated yourself to a certain cue while filming, to stray from that cue and
go in another creative direction.

Composers will be able to come into a project
unbiased and offer their musical intuition. This may or may not line up with
your original vision, but this dialogue and partnership is what really makes
your film special and unique.

Working With A Composer

Working with
a composer is expensive and tedious. Kidding! But that is definitely
the preconceived notion.

While there are certainly times when this is true to
an extent, this isn’t always the case- especially not in the world of documentary
scoring. And again, if you budget for music like you learned earlier, this
shouldn’t be an issue anyway.

Working with a composer will get you fine tuned
musical focus on your film. Their sole purpose is providing high quality music
to your film. This person will be a fresh pair of eyes to help offer musical
insight. That is not to say you cannot guide them or request certain tasks of
them, but a composer is a master of their craft and should be approached in
such a manner- they exist to take your film to the next level.

Their cues will
be custom-tailored to exact moments in the film: a dramatic reunion, a tragic
loss, a horrifying scene, all accentuated by the music they write especially
for those handful of seconds.

Additionally, the score
will be something new and fresh just for your film. It will help brand the film
and people will recognize and associate your work through hearing the score.

Finally, by working with a composer you are supporting a fellow creative, like
others have supported your creative endeavors.

Final Thoughts

In summation, there are many ways to
procure music for your film projects. Are they all equal? No. But what matters
most is you finding what works best for your creative process.

If you enjoy the
hunt of using libraries, great!

If you insist on writing your own music,
massive props to you.

If working with a composer is what your film needs, a
high five and kudos from me.

While I definitely suggest you think seriously
about working directly with composers if you’re more of a library-type, I’ll
settle to know that you’ve at least read my thoughts and perhaps those will in
some way help you along in your quest of finding the perfect music for you.

Happy creating!

About The Author

Caleb Parker
is a Northwest-based composer and producer. While his true love is music for
film, he writes everything from modern classical to tunes for musicals, and
even produces the occasional rap backing track. Visit the author’s website:
www.caleballenparker.com

I just wanted to say that I think your website is amazing . I am a beginner with an idea, and the info and articles on your website are easy to understand and answer many questions I have. I can not wait to start filming!

- Sarah (Sydney, Australia)

I am a professional filmmaker, and I applaud this site for detailing the ABC's of documentary filmmaking. It serves as my own checklist as I continue making my own movies ... Thanks!